New York, August 25, 2004—Armenian photojournalist Mkhitar Khachatryan was assaulted after photographing the opulent homes of government officials in the central Armenian resort city of Tsakhkadzor yesterday, according to local and international press reports. Khachatryan, with the news agency Fotolur, and Anna Israelyan, a correspondent with the independent daily Aravot, were reporting on damages caused…
New York, April 13, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s early-morning attack on several Armenian journalists who were covering an opposition rally in the country’s capital, Yerevan. According to local and international reports, four journalists were seriously beaten. Ayk Gevorgian and Avetis Babajanian, reporters with the opposition daily Aykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times); Levon…
New York, April 6, 2004—Journalists covering yesterday’s opposition rally in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, were attacked by two dozen men in civilian clothes. The men smashed journalists’ cameras, assaulted several reporters, and destroyed filmed footage of the events, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported. The men attempted to disrupt the rally by throwing eggs…
In 2003, presidential and parliamentary elections dominated Armenia’s political scene. Though President Robert Kocharian managed to retain power, tens of thousands of demonstrators angered by widespread electoral fraud took to the streets in protest before the March runoff, calling for his resignation.
New York, April 30, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s violent attack against Mger Galechian, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Chorrord Ishkhanutyun, which is based in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan. According to Armenian and Russian news reports, two men came to the newspaper’s offices on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 29, and brutally…
In the run-up to presidential elections scheduled for 2003, President Robert Kocharian, who is seeking another term, muzzled dissenting voices in the press and called for more compliant media coverage of government policies. As a result, journalists continued to face criminal prosecution, attacks, and censorship. Meanwhile, poor economic conditions drove some members of the press…
December 11 Jonathan C. Randal, The Washington Post The U.N. International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY) ruled to limit compelled testimony from war correspondents. The decision, announced at the tribunal’s Appeals Chamber, came in response to the appeal by former Washington Post reporter Jonathan C. Randal, who had been…
Emboldened by the growing number of U.S. troops in the country, President Askar Akayev has used the threat of international terrorism as an excuse to curb political dissent and suppress the independent and opposition media in Kyrgyzstan. Compliant courts often issue exorbitant damage awards in politically motivated libel suits, driving even the country’s most prominent…